Straight to the point? The astonishing world of Dipsocoromorpha curation

The Dipsocoromorpha, or “litter bugs”, are a morphologically stunning and diverse group of true bugs. Litter bugs have a worldwide distribution and comprise ~320 described species in five morphologically distinct families. Not surprisingly, they are abundant in arthropod trap samples, but are often overlooked because of their small size (less than 2mm) and cryptic habits. The Schizopteridae, the largest family in Dipsocoromorpha, display astonishing morphological features, requiring specialized curation, dissection and documentation techniques. With the aid of confocal and scanning electron microscopy, we have discovered an array of novel morphological structures never documented before. Here, we present the products from varying imaging techniques, our preferred dissection methods, and our modified protocols for proper curation of pinned and slide-mounded Dipsocoromorpha.